ICROSSING POV:

Last week Google launched its Knowledge Graph Carousel for local searches on your desktop. While

at a basic level Carousel represents a new way for Google to display existing information it has about

local businesses, Carousel also represents a continuing push by Google to bring its Google+ social

product more prominently into search results.

This requires brands to immediately consider claiming and optimizing their local presence within

Google+.

HOW BRANDS WILL BE AFFECTED BY GOOGLE'S LOCAL CAROUSELWritten by Doug Platts, Vice President, Search Strategy, iCrossingJon Maxson, Senior Director, Natural Search, iCrossingScott Sala, Senior Strategist, Natural Search, iCrossing

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JUNE 2013HOW BRANDS WILL BE AFFECTED BY GOOGLE’S LOCAL CAROUSEL

Carousel is currently only available in the U.S. market, but still gives marketers an opportunity to make brands more visible for

local search in the following categories:

+ Local businesses (“NYC cinemas”)

+ Restaurants & bars (“Italian restaurants”)

+ Events (“events in NYC”)

Carousel also appears for other searches that do not tie into local listings, for example “Matt Damon films”.

Carousel's images, which appear against a black background at the top of the search results, are fed by Google’s Knowledge

Graph. Information for local searches is also pulled from local listings and content from Google+.

Google has been working to roll out Google+ as a social layer across all of its platforms for a while, and earlier this year they

officially connected this layer with Google Local. Such a prominent integration within search results emphasizes the importance

for brands to build out their local profiles within Google+ in order to be visible and gain more local traffic from search. This will also

mean brands should drive their target audience to Google+ in order to engage with these local listings for reviews and ratings,

which will help Google’s activity stats for Google+.

So how will Carousel work? When users hover over a Carousel listing, it will activate the maps section of the page – each listing

moused-over will be highlighted in the map so users may see the location of each Carousel listing. By clicking on a listing in the

Carousel, users will get refreshed search results, which are based on a new search query tied to the brand image clicked. Paid

and organic listings update on each click, and the map is replaced by the Knowledge Graph summary of the Brand item. The new

query is typically “Item Name + GEO” (for example, “W New York New York”).

Starting now, when you search Google for restaurants, bars or other local places on your desktop, you’ll see an interactive

“carousel” of local results at the top of the page.

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JUNE 2013HOW BRANDS WILL BE AFFECTED BY GOOGLE’S LOCAL CAROUSEL

WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF GOOGLE’S CAROUSEL?Sequence - Carousel Listing Order

+ The order of listings appear to closely match Google Maps

+ Items are generally listed by proximity to GEO-centers (or the city center)

+ Review counts or ratings do not appear to influence listings

+ Preliminary informal tests indicate the center of the Carousel may gain a greater share of engagement versus the outer listings

Marketers should be aware that within Carousel, business locations and Google GEO-centers are set, meaning that you won’t

have additional optimization opportunities for the listings.

Listing Elements

Google has included three key listing elements that every marketer should consider when optimizing their brands within Carousel.

Element 1: Photo

+ Content is fed from the Google+ photos page

+ Typically this is the first photo, unless it is not a high-quality image (if the first photo is not of high enough quality, Google will

select the next high-quality image for use)

+ Google takes a 170x230 rectangular thumbnail from the top, center of the first image

Google has created guidelines that affect the sequence of the photos that appear within Carousel.

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JUNE 2013HOW BRANDS WILL BE AFFECTED BY GOOGLE’S LOCAL CAROUSEL

When considering optimization opportunities for photos within Carousel, marketers should:

1. Carefully assess which photo to include as the first photo in local listings to increase its selection for Carousel listings

2. Place promo/pricing text centered on photos – this is an area that may be modified to include text, awards, holiday

themes, etc.

3. Be aware that Google is running tests for how frequently to update images in order to coordinate for holiday campaigns

Element 2: Rating and Review Count

+ Content is fed by Google+ Local Scores

+ Content is fed by Google+ Local Review Count

When considering optimization opportunities for ratings and reviews within Carousel, marketers should:

1. Increase the quantity of user ratings which equal more opportunities for scoring within Zagat; this may equate to more

click-throughs

2. Seek to work with social media, PR and email marketing teams to solicit reviews from current customers (reviews influence

ratings over time)

3. Not offer money or gifts in exchange for reviews, as this can backfire if search engines discover any quid pro quo

Element 3: Name/Address

Name:

+ Character Count – Google cuts the name off at 27 characters

+ Source – Google+ Local Business Name

Address:

+ Street address only – no city, state or zip

When considering optimization opportunities for name/address listings within Carousel, marketers should:

1. Consider shortening the business name at the beginning to help the name read better within Carousel, while continuing

to have all of the words for overall SEO (For example, “Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan SoHo Village” becomes “Four

Points SoHo Manhattan (27 chars)– by Sheraton”

DISRUPTING THE SEARCH EXPERIENCEWith the addition of Local Carousel to Google's search results, marketers can expect changes in user behavior within these types

of searches. Here are two ways in which this change could affect your brand:

1) Less non-brand traffic to your site

One area that we would expect to see a change is in the type of traffic driving keywords to a website. Instead of seeing traffic

coming to your site for high traffic driving non-brand keywords, such as “NY hotels”, marketers could see an increase in brand

traffic as users refine their queries within the search result page before clicking on your site. For example, users may now refine

their search for “New York Marriott Downtown New York” instead of using the broad search term “NY hotels”.

This shift in user behavior will start to benefit brands with local listings, but would harm aggregator brands such as Expedia.

Marketers should not only measure their search strategy on non-brand traffic, but also on overall site traffic, as their brands will be

visible for key non-brand queries, even though brands will not be recorded within their sites analytics package. This is yet another

level of attribution that needs to be accounted for when determining the success of your search campaign.

2) Implications on paid search

According to iCrossing’s vice president of search media operations Matt Gross, “The impact on paid search is largely that the

Carousel diminishes the importance of the paid listings for local-based queries because they now appear beneath the Carousel.

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This is not to say that marketers shouldn’t show paid listings there (they are, after all, only charged when the listing is clicked –

so if they’re dominated by something else then they’re naturally cheaper to run). In terms of gross impact, it seems that natural

search listings are going to be increasingly important in terms of driving traffic from these pages. Since these pages are some of

the most important for local advertisers, I also believe that having a good Google+ page has started to become a real necessity.”

One activity to look out for is a competitor bidding on your local brand keywords as they try to counter any losses in traffic due to

user’s refining their queries within the search results.

NEXT STEPS FOR YOUR BRAND1. Create or claim a Google+ page for each of your retail/ store locations.

Chances are that a Google+ page already exists for your location(s) derived from other information across the Internet. Claiming

your page allows you to customize photos, add videos, insert descriptive text, and start to engage with Google+ users.

2. Enhance your Google+ pages.

If you have already claimed your page, enhance it with high-quality images (paying close attention to that first image, as

mentioned above). Ensure that your business name and description are accurate and optimized. Link your Google+ page to

your website (and vice versa) to send Google a strong signal about your page’s authority.

3. Promote your Google+ presence through social, PR, and other marketing channels.

As a result of Carousel, increasing numbers of searchers will discover your Google+ local pages. Will your brand’s presence

on Google+ further your marketing goals? Understanding the intent of your audience’s searches will be critical as you

optimize your search and social strategy to drive new conversions and ongoing brand loyalty.

4. Ensure that your branded SERPs are free of competitive, negative organic listings.

With an expected increase in branded search impressions, how do your results look for those top branded terms? Optimize

all of your web properties, social media profiles, positive news articles, and even informational sites, if necessary, to ensure

that the first page of search results gives users a positive impression of your brand.

5. Integrate structured data into your web listing to draw user’s eye to your site.

Use a schema.org markup that is appropriate to your industry in order to enhance how your search results appear in Google

and other engines. Almost every site can benefit from some type of markup, and you should especially consider its use if

you see competitor sites with enhanced search results for your keyword set.

Once searchers begin to interact with Google’s Knowledge Graph Carousel, the immediate goals are to be present and optimized

within Carousel – and once a user clicks on your listing there, to have the ideal search presence to obtain clicks to your site. The

Carousel demonstrates Google’s continued attempts to sync Google+ with its core search business, and brands must similarly

align search, social, and other channels to maximize visibility within search results – and overall marketing goals.